Sorry, guess I was just tryiing to cover all bases... I don't think I found to OP all that clear. That said, the chances of a new, pre-loaded machine, these days, not supporting x64 is very slim & unlikely. Very little x86 will be found anymore; it is fairly passe. x64 is the way to go, now & 128 is on the horizion.

A 128 Bit CPU could address 2^128 bits (a number so staggeringly large that it almost defies comprehension....3.4x10^29 GB....3,400,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00 0,000 Bytes, give or take the odd byte or two).

{actually that's an over simplification due to my mixture of Kilo=1024 and kilo=1000 notations}

In 2010 there were an estimated 2^70 bytes stored on Earth. A 128 Bit CPU could address that quantity of data 2^58 times over (roughly 3,000,000,000,000,000,000 times).

Sorry, guess I was just tryiing to cover all bases... I don't think I found to OP all that clear. That said, the chances of a new, pre-loaded machine, these days, not supporting x64 is very slim & unlikely. Very little x86 will be found anymore; it is fairly passe. x64 is the way to go, now & 128 is on the horizion.

I am surprised at some of the opinions expressed in this forum. You do not need a touch screen to make Win8 workable. You do not need any menu add on to make it workable. The opening screen works well with a scroll mouse. Instead of scrolling vertically it scrolls horizontally. Where's the problem in that? Once you have accessed the desktop a touch on the windows key takes you back and forth between the start menu and desktop very quickly. ALT+F4 will close any program and at the desktop will give you options. The learning curve is not at all steep. As to the amount of memory required - 4GB is ample for most of us. Remember when people give you their recommendation their opinion is often and expression of their prejudices.

How to fully enjoy Win 8

As Jerry, and others have mentioned, search for 'how to make win8 look like win7', I wasn't thrilled about the new graphical interface and constantly found myself going between pages to find essential tools and programs. The solutions I discovered worked very well to bring back the old interface, start button, remove hot spots, ect. and still give me the fast smooth win8. This was especially essential to keep peace in the family, if my wife ever saw the drastic changes to the new interface, I would be looking for a new place to live. I also found a way to edit the registry, making the need for logging in each time Win 8 starts up. Great for home computing! (Using Win 8 pro 64)

It Depends

If you're buying a new computer, especially a laptop/notebook/ultrabook, go Win8. It's what they offer now (unless you're picking up a refurbished or leftover model where you might still get Win7 as an option.) This is especially true if you don't have a lot of peripherals you hook in via USB. If the latter is the case, then check first to make sure you gan get Win8 drivers for most or all of those peripherals. If you can't, consider the cost factor. You can probably pick up a leftover or a refurb computer at a bargain price and not have to replace any peripherals. But except for this circumstance, go with the newer OS- your laptop will be configured to run with it, and it- and any new peripherals you get subsequently- will have a longer shelf life.

Not your particular circumstance, but if you're upgrading from XP, I'd go with Win7. The interface will be more familiar, there will almost certainly be compatible drivers available, and the support lasts for another 7 years! Your already-used computer and peripherals will undoubtedly need replacement long before then, and there'll probably be a new and even-better OS available at that time.

To use the old medieval classification, I'm neither a computer apprentice nor a master, but am somewhere on the journeyman spectrum. Noting that Windows seems to alternate between excellent (Win98, WinXP, Win7) and buggy (WinME, Vista) systems, I've always tried to purchase a laptop as the good system reaches maturity, and just before the next (and most likely buggy) system is introduced. So I bought an XP laptop just before Vista (thank God), and just bought a Win7 laptop last year before Win8. I usually need a new laptop for power/features/form factor by the time the OS I'm buying has it's support expire- especially likely with Win7!

That being said, with Win8, Windows is clearly working toward an OS that will work on all platforms from desktop/laptop to tablet to smartphone. When and if they get to that point, I'll gladly jump to that new OS- as soon as SP1 becomes available for it.

touch screen win 8

I don't know if you're looking at a laptop or a desktop with win 8, but if a laptop I would suggest you look at the touch screen features on a laptop and decide if having that option is worth spending the money. It is a nice feature and you should go to a best buy or other stores that have touch screen laptops and try it out. You may decide you don't need it but you should play with it like you would the keyboard and other features before you decide.

I can't believe all the comments recommending Windows 8. There must be some lack of real world knowledge here. Windows 8 is just a misguided attempt by Microsoft to get a share of the iPad market. From what I can see the plan is to force Desktop and laptop users to use the touch screen interface. They will love it so much that when they buy a tablet pc they will choose one with Windows 8 on it. Good luck Microsoft. I don't see that happenning and you risk taking down Microsoft, HP and Dell in the attempt.

Opinions, however misguided, are always welcome. The members here include both IT professionals and fairly well versed amateurs. Many of us have been using Windows in the real world since before v 3.1. To say we lack real world knowledge because many of us prefer Win 8 actually shows a narrow knowledge of the Windows Secrets lounge, and perhaps of Win 8.

We have discussed the benefits and/or lack thereof in numerous threads throughout this forum. Please do not say we are lacking in real world knowledge as that could be considered close to flaming, what ever side of the discussion we might be on.

The OP asked for opinions of Win 7 versus Win 8 and has received comments on both sides. Even though I disagree with some of the comments presented throughout these forums of those that do not like Win 8, I have never told them they lack real world knowledge. Just as I do not believe those of us that do like Win 8 lack real world knowledge.

This is not a great way to garner support from the other members of the Lounge with your first post!

I have been using computers since 1976 (On a Main frame) and every version of Windows, Dos and GEM before Windows. I sincerely apologise if any offence is taken and regret that. It is intent of this forum to pass on knowlege discuss common problems. Sorry if I got carried away Medico.

Apology accepted. Many of the members here, especially those that volunteer our time answering questions, also have many years behind us. I also started in 1971 with Fortran Programming. We all have our opinions on what works for us. Many of us really do like Win 8, and many do not.

Personally, Win 8 works very well for me on 2 conventional (non-touch) laptops and 1 conventional (non-touch) desktop. They all look and feel just as Win 7 did before I Custom Installed Win 8 and replaced Win 7.

I would welcome posts on your vast knowledge of PCs. We can always use more experienced users. It is just that your first post implied those of us that do like Win 8 do not have any real world knowledge, and that just ain't so.

I'm still on Win7 so I am just going by what I have read on the internet. There do not seem to be many reported downsides to running Win8 compared to Win7. One comment I read stated that flipping Win8 over to classic mode is actually a little faster than Win7. That might even be true.

On the other hand I also read that Microsoft is losing interest in Windows Media center. You may need to pay extra if you want to add WMC to Win8. (the free upgrade was supposed to expire in January) You may not care about WMC, I found it worked well for recording TV except for it's proprietary video format.

My personal results are that Win 8 is somewhat faster than Win 7 was for me on my PCs. I like many of the new features. I do use either Start8 or Classic Shell to allow a Start Orb app, which also allow me to set my system up to boot to the Desktop at power on, and to disable the hot corners on the desktop. So for me there is no question that I will not be going back to Win 7.